The tax residence of impatriate taxpayers, both before and after taking up their duties in France, determines eligibility for the tax benefits provided under Article 155 B of the French Tax Code.
THE LAW
Article 155 B-I-1 of the French Tax Code (2nd and 3rd paragraphs)
To qualify for these benefits, impatriate taxpayers must have been tax resident abroad during the five calendar years preceding the year in which they take up their duties in France.
However, if during the application period of the regime impatriate taxpayers change positions within the same company or within another company in France belonging to the same group, the tax exemption regime is now maintained (previously, any change of position terminated the regime because the condition of prior non‑residence was no longer met).
Finally, impatriate taxpayers must have their home or principal place of abode in France and must carry out their professional activity mainly in France.
ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDANCE
BOI-RSA-GEO-40-10-10-20250811, paras. 130 et seq.
Where a tax treaty applies, the tax residence of impatriate taxpayers must be compatible with both the prior non‑residence requirement and the French residence requirement set out in the law.
To take account of professional or family constraints that may delay the installation of the taxpayer’s household in France, the impatriate regime applies from the date duties are taken up in France if the household settles in France during the same calendar year or the following year (passive income and capital gains are not covered by this tolerance).
If the household’s installation in France occurs after the end of the calendar year following the year duties are taken up, the taxpayer does not permanently lose the benefit of the regime but may claim its application from the year in which the French residence condition is met.
Finally, regarding changes of position (whether similar or different) within the company or the group, maintaining the inbound regime does not extend its duration.
CASE LAW
- Change of position
An employee of a German temporary employment company, initially eligible for the impatriate regime, could not continue to benefit from it under a new employment contract concluded with another German temporary employment company because “at the date on which this new contract was concluded, he was already tax resident in France” (TA Pau, 10 April 2014, No. 1201806).
Similarly, an employee who successively concluded two new employment contracts with companies other than the one that initially recruited him in France could not benefit from the impatriate regime because “he took up duties for two new companies that called him to occupy a position in France when he was already tax resident in France” (TA Melun, 22 November 2018, 3rd Chamber, No. 16‑4988).
- Prior tax residence
A person who completed a VIE assignment with Société Générale in New York from 1 November 2005 to 30 April 2007 must be regarded as having been tax resident in France in 2006 under Article 4 B‑2 of the French Tax Code (“Persons are also considered tax resident in France if they are State agents exercising their functions or missions abroad and are not subject in that country to a personal tax on all their income”). Consequently, this person did not meet the condition of prior non‑residence during the five calendar years preceding their taking up duties in France in 2010 and therefore could not claim the exemption under Article 155 B (TA Paris, 23 May 2017, No. 1612516/1‑2).
A taxpayer claiming to have been tax resident in Singapore before taking up duties in France was denied the benefit of the impatriate regime: the absence of evidence proving residence in Singapore, combined with declarative inconsistencies showing a French address, led the court to reject the prior non‑residence condition (TA Cergy‑Pontoise, 16 September 2025, No. 2304789).
A tax residence certificate issued by the German tax authorities demonstrated the absence of French tax residence during the five calendar years preceding the taking up of duties in France. Moreover, the fact that the employment contract mentioned a French address at the hiring date did not prevent compliance with the prior non‑residence condition, since the record showed “that the taxpayer left her home in Germany only a few days earlier (…) to move into an apartment provided by her new employer as part of her recruitment” (TA Paris, 19 December 2025, 2nd Section – 1st Chamber, No. 2326171).
- Special cases
Although Article 155 B “does not prevent a taxpayer claiming its benefit from having settled in France before actually taking up employment, provided that they settled in France with a view to occupying that position,” a taxpayer cannot be regarded as having been called from abroad to occupy a position in France if they fail to provide “any evidence capable of establishing, as only they could do, the date of their move and installation in France” (TA Paris, 14 October 2015, No. 1501277).
A French company sought to recruit an employee tax resident in the United States but, “due to administrative difficulties linked to the Covid‑19 pandemic that made it impossible to immediately conclude an employment contract,” she was first seconded for a short period to the French subsidiary of a law firm while performing her duties for the company that intended to hire her. Despite being tax resident in France at the time of the effective hiring, the tax court accepted that she had been recruited from abroad “in the very particular circumstances of the case” (TA Paris, 16 December 2024, No. 2221604).
Further reading
- The impatriate tax regime according to the tax judge: reference remuneration
- The impatriate tax regime according to the tax judge: contractual formalism
- The impatriate tax regime according to the tax judge: days worked abroad
- Social optimization for impatriates employees
- Tax optimization for impatriates sport employees
- The impatriate regimes (YouTube)